Man

Here’s a question that was posed to the Dalai Lama:

“What thing about humanity surprises you the most?”

His answer was as follows: “Man”

"Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health And then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn’t enjoy the present, And as a result he doesn’t live in the present or the future And he lives as if he’s never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived"

Relationship building with God

Many times, when Srila Prabhupada was physically present on earth especially the years after ISKCON was established (1966 to 1977), he was approached by numerous reporters, journalists and professors on how to resolve apparently social ills such as crime, poverty, over-population etc etc Srila Prabhupada gave various answers but all of them had one common moral and that is the people today are enjoying the kingdom of God without God. In other words, because we have become Godless in our consciousness and day-to-day life, we are suffering the various social problems plaguing modern society.

Scholars, academicians and politicians may think that Srila Prabhupada’s answer is idealistic and not in touch with reality, that it is too simple of an answer. Become genuine servants of God, we will solve all our problems social, economical, environmental and political. Actually, this solution is the highest truth and the most confidential. Krishna Himself declares in the Gita that the most confidential knowledge is that where one completely dedicates his or her life in the service of God. In other words, whatever occupation we are engaged in or whatever we do, we perform it in the consciousness as the servants of God and not as the enjoyer of the fruits of our occupation. We offer the fruits of our labor whole heartedly to God. If we follow this ideal, we can solve all our modern day problems. This truth is simple yet difficult by many to follow.

The singular reason that we think that it is difficult to follow is because our perception of God is either agnostic, sentimental (ritualistic) or impersonal. We do not see God in a personal way like we see our own father and mother. When we are young, all our needs are fulfilled by our parents. We do not live in fear of not being taken care of…why...because we relate and interact with our parents on a day-to-day basis that we believe that they are our well-wishers. This interaction and relationship is lacking when it comes to our Supreme father – that is- God. We cannot see and relate with God as we see our own mother and father. Therefore, it seems impractical to use God as our all-in-all solution to modern day problems. Srila Prabhupada has given us practical guidelines to engage on a day-to-day basis that by doing we will be able to relate and interact with God on a personal level just as we do with our parents and friends. This relationship as it gets stronger, our faith that God will take care of all our needs will increase just as we have faith on our biological parents.

One paramount relationship-building strategy with God is calling out His names in a mood of helplessness. This calling out of His names in a humble mood is called Mantra Meditation or simply Chanting. Chanting the Names of God is the simplest yet significant method to relate with God and interact with Him in today’s fast paced age. It can be done anywhere, anytime. There are no hard or fast rules. Performing chanting daily will make our relationship with God “real” beyond sentimental attachment and impersonal attachment. This attachment will nourish our soul and give meaning to our daily lives helping us to transcend the social, economical, political and environmental problems. If every individual on this planet chants the names of God, we will reform our own bad habits and live a simple life. Living a simple life with simple needs means less exploitation of people and natural resources thus reversing the damage we are doing to the people, society and the planet earth at large. Chanting God's name is not a sectarian formula. It is universal to all race, class and religions.

Please chant

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

and interact with God and save the planet and its people.


Hare Krishna

God’s body NEVER gets old, diseased or dies at any time in the past present or future

God’s body NEVER gets old, diseased or dies at any time in the past present or future. Whoever claims to be God but gets old, and diseased and eventually dies is not God but cheater.

There is a grave misconception among people, mostly among people following Hindu dharma, that God incarnates in flesh and blood and walk among us like a mortal. They even cite examples such as Lord Ram and Krishna to support their case. Such a thought that God comes down as a human being in flesh and blood is offensive and blasphemous. It also exposes the deep ignorance of common man, especially Hindus, on the understanding of the nature of God.

Let us make one point very clear – there is absolutely no scriptural (Vedic) evidence to prove that God descends to earth in flesh and blood. It is also wrong to assume that the so called flesh & blood incarnated God realizes himself as God by way of yoga and meditation. God is always God in the past, present and future and never “practices” yoga or meditation to realize himself as God. Such childish and juvenile understanding is anything but a display of deep seated ignorance of the true glory and greatness of God. Therefore any individual who claims to be God but at the same time possess a “human” body with flesh and blood cannot be considered God. These so called “Gods” are in fact subjected to mundane laws of old age, disease and death at all times. God is above the rules and laws of this material world of old age, disease and death at all times. In other words, God never gets old or diseased or dies at any point in time. If an individual claims to be God but undergoes these three changes of old age, disease and death, then, this individual is not God but a common mortal just like any of us. Sure…he may possess some mystic power but in no way can an individual within the laws of old age, disease and death be considered God.

God’s body and form although appearing as “human” is NOT “human”. God’s body is not made of DNA or RNA or RBC or WBC like the rest of us. The scriptures inform us that
God’s body is “nirguna”-devoid of material qualities of old age, disease and death. God’s body is transcendental full of spiritual qualities. In Sanskrit transcendental body is called SAT CHIT and ANANDA. It means God’s body is ETERNAL (sat), FULL OF KNOWLEDGE OMNISCIENT (chit) and BLISSFUL (ananda). Such a “transcendental” body is anything but like our material body which is made of flesh, blood, pus, stool and urine. God’s body is not subjected to material laws. His bodily parts are interchangeable where as our bodily parts are not interchangeable. For example, we can only chew food with our mouth and not hands. We can walk with our legs but not with our eyes. We can procreate with our genitals but not with our ears. Therefore our bodily parts are fixed with fixed functions. On the other hand, God’s body which is “transcendental” (meaning sat chit and Ananda) can perform the functions interchangeably. God can procreate with His eyes, eat with His eyes or run with His ears etc In other words, His spiritual bodily parts are not fixed to perform fixed functions like our material bodies.

The bottom line - God’s body is transcendental with spiritual qualities. When God descends to this earth planet, still He possesses His transcendental body and He never relinquishes His transcendental body to take a material body of flesh and blood. When Lord Krishna descended 5000 years ago, He never got old. He never got diseased and He never died. Krishna only disappeared out of His sweet will just as the sun disappears from the sky every evening similarly Krishna disappeared from our vision. In the battle of Kurukshetra, Krishna was more than 100 years old…but He never got old…if not how is it possible to be a driver of the chariot for Arjuna in the battle of Kurukshetra? Lord Krishna’s body is not material and was not material. His body was always transcendental to the mundane rules and laws of this world. Lord Krishna’s body, when He was present 5000 years ago, was SAT CHIT and ANANDA (transcendental). His body was eternal, full of knowledge and blissful.

Krishna Himself chides people who consider Him an ordinary being. In the Bhagavad Gita, Ch 9 text 11, He says to Arjuna that “Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be”. Foolish people think that Lord Krishna possesses an ordinary human body like us whereas Krishna proclaims that His body is transcendental to material nature and laws.

Therefore, please understand that whoever possesses a material flesh and blood body and undergoes the miseries of old-age, disease and death can never become God and is never God past present or future. Please do not be cheated by such cheap Gods. God is great and is NEVER subjected to material laws in the past, present or future. He is transcendental to all dualities of material suffering not only in His spiritual abode but also when He descends to earth or other earthly planets. His body never perishes or deteriorates or dies or subjected to kill. He is eternal, omniscient and blissful at all times and at all places. Anything contrary to this idea is not God but a mortal being like any of us (perhaps with some mystic power)

With this knowledge, we can truly know who is God and who is not!

Hare Krishna

Power of Chanting

source: Iskcondesiretree.com

Please chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

and make your life successful. There is no truth superior to this.

Hare Krishna

No one can understand Krishna's plan

Once there was a sweeper in a well known temple and he was very sincere and devoted.

Every time he saw thousands of devotees coming to take darshan of the Lord, he thought that the Lord is standing all the time and giving darshan and He must be feeling very tired.

So one day very innocently he asked the Lord whether he can take the place of the Lord for a day so that the Lord can have some relief and rest. The Deity of Temple replied, "I do not mind taking a break. I will transform you like Myself, but you must do one thing. you must just stand here like Me, smile at everyone and just give benedictions. Do not interfere with anything and do not say anything. Remember you are the deity and you just have faith that I have a master plan for everything. " The sweeper agreed to this.

The next day the sweeper took the position of the deity and a rich man came and prayed to the Lord.

He offered a nice donation and prayed that his business should be prosperous. While going, the rich man inadvertently left his wallet full of money right there. Now the sweeper in the form of deity could not call him and so he decided to control himself and keep quiet.

Just then a poor man came and he put one coin in the Hundi and said that it was all he could afford and he prayed to the Lord that he should continue to be engaged in the Lord's service. He also said that his family was in dire need of some basic needs but he left it to the good hands of the Lord to give some solution. When he opened his eyes, he saw the wallet left by the rich man. The poor man thanked the Lord for His kindness and took the wallet very innocently. The sweeper in the form of the Deity could not say anything and he had to just keep smiling.

At that point a sailor walked in. He prayed for his safe journey as he was going on a long trip. Just then the rich man came with the police and said that somebody has stolen his wallet and seeing the sailor there, he asked the police to arrest him thinking that he might have taken it. Now the sweeper in the form of Deity wanted to say that the sailor is not the thief but he could not say so and he became greatly frustrated. The sailor looked at the Lord and asked why he, an innocent person, is being punished. The rich man looked at the Lord and thanked Him for finding the thief. The sweeper in the deity form could no more tolerate and he thought that even if the real Lord had been here, he would have definitely interfered and hence he started speaking and said that the sailor is not the thief but it was the poor man who took away the wallet. The rich man was very thankful as also the sailor.

In the night, the real Lord came and He asked the sweeper how the day was. The sweeper said, "I thought it would be easy, but now I know that Your days are not easy, but I did one good thing." Then he explained the whole episode to the Lord. The Lord became very upset on hearing this whereas the sweeper thought the Lord would appreciate him for the good deed done.

The Lord asked, "Why did you not just stick to the plan? You had no faith in Me. Do you think that I do not understand the hearts of all those who come here? All the donation which the rich man gave was all stolen money and it is only a fraction of what he really has and he wants Me to reciprocate unlimitedly.

The single coin offered by the poor man was the last coin he was having and he gave it to Me out of faith. The sailor might not have done anything wrong, but if the sailor were to go in the ship that night he was about to die because of bad weather and instead if he is arrested he would be in the jail and he would have been saved form a greater calamity. The wallet should go to the poor man because he will use it in My service. I was going to reduce the rich man's karma also by doing this and save the sailor also.

But you cancelled everything because you thought you know My plan and you made your own plans.

Hare Krishna

The ABC's of Life

I got these originally from my workplace. I have modified it to fit a spiritual paradigm.

Accept Differences
Be kind to all living beings including humans, animals, aquatics and plants
Chant Hare Krishna
Dream about Krishna
Express thanks to Krishna
Forgive others
Give freely the Holy Names of God
Harm No one in body, mind and words
Imbibe saintly qualities
Jettison anger
Keep Krishna within your heart
Love everyone selflessly
Master something for Krishna
Nurture faith in the Holy Names of God
Open your heart to Krishna
Plant seeds of bhakti
Quest for transcendental truths
Reciprocate
Seek spiritual wisdom
Touch hearts with your love
Understand
Value spiritual truths
Win graciously
Xtol pure devotees
Yearn for Krishna’s service
Zealously spread the message of God

Hare Krishna

Typical

What is typical here is - birth, old age, disease and death. This is not relative.

Lets figure out something to get out of that!!

Hare Krishna